Did a two man twenty mile trip on Friday. Launched about 9am at high tide from South Amboy, NJ and made it just shy of the Verrazano Bridge spanning the mouth of the Hudson in about 2 hours mostly under sail power ... then the wind died.

Lesson # 1 - Something you already know but do not truly understand until you experience it. "Do not sail any further than you can pedal/paddle back."

This thing seriously needs a jib sail. Bot small dinghies and larger sailing vessels were putting around on just the jib when the mainsail would do nothing. I seriously question the TI/AI's ability to tack into the wind without this feature as well.Not to say the TI isn't fun or worth the purchase, just seemingly less capable than I had previously hoped.

Which brings me to Lesson # 2 - "Plan your trips around the wind."(thanks for the site below)

Not that 10 miles is an extraordinarily long distance, but it sure feels like it when the sun is beating down on you as you fight tide, current, and the wakes of much larger ships.This was, of course, capped off by returning to the boat ramp to find there was no boat ramp and the tide had in fact made the ramp about 300 yards shy of being accessible.Lesson # 3 - "Free boat ramps are free for a reason."

Everyone told me to take it to a lake for it's maiden voyage. "Get a feel for it" for my first time sailing.. but those whom know me know there is no kiddie pool for me. I got the best feel for it by putting it through its paces and I can't wait for some real wind and chop so I can really make this thing haul and see what it can do.

In my first trip out I have one major gripe: The seats for these things suck. I could not get the seat posts to hold into place at all despite tightening and re-tightening. Any solutions?

I usually check this site for wind projections before each sail. Gives a good accounting of what the wind predictions will be during the day. Once you drill down to your local area, be sure to check out the right hand side "more days, more details..." link. This provides detailed wind directions and speed (as well as more information).